The present exemplary embodiments relate to phosphor compositions, particularly phosphors for use in lighting applications. More particularly, the present embodiments relate to phosphor blends and a warm white lighting apparatus employing these blends.
Light emitting diodes (LEDs) are semiconductor light emitters often used as a replacement for other light sources, such as incandescent lamps. They are particularly useful as display lights, warning lights and indicator lights or in other applications where colored light is desired. The color of light produced by an LED is dependent on the type of semiconductor material used in its manufacture.
Colored semiconductor light emitting devices, including light emitting diodes and lasers (both are generally referred to herein as LEDs), have been produced from Group III-V alloys such as gallium nitride (GaN). With reference to the GaN-based LEDs, light is generally emitted in the UV to green range of the electromagnetic spectrum. Until quite recently, LEDs have not been suitable for lighting uses where a bright white light is needed, due to the inherent color of the light produced by the LED.
Recently, techniques have been developed for converting the light emitted from LEDs to useful light for illumination purposes. In one technique, the LED is coated or covered with a phosphor layer. A phosphor is a luminescent material that absorbs radiation energy in a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum and emits energy in another portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Phosphors of one important class are crystalline inorganic compounds of very high chemical purity and of controlled composition to which small quantities of other elements (called “activators”) have been added to convert them into efficient fluorescent materials. With the right combination of activators and inorganic compounds, the color of the emission can be controlled. Most useful and well-known phosphors emit radiation in the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in response to excitation by electromagnetic radiation outside the visible range.
By interposing a phosphor excited by the radiation generated by the LED, light of a different wavelength, e.g., in the visible range of the spectrum, may be generated. Colored LEDs are often used in toys, indicator lights and other devices. Continuous performance improvements have enabled new applications for LEDs of saturated colors in traffic lights, exit signs, store signs, and the like.
In addition to colored LEDs, a combination of LED generated light and phosphor generated light may be used to produce white light. The most popular white LEDs consist of blue emitting GaInN chips. The blue emitting chips are coated with a phosphor that converts some of the blue radiation to a complementary color, e.g. a yellowish emission. Together, the blue and yellowish radiation produces a white light. There are also white LEDs that utilize a near UV emitting chip and a phosphor blend including red, green and blue emitting phosphors designed to convert the UV radiation to visible light.
Known white light emitting devices include those comprising a blue light-emitting LED having a peak emission wavelength in the near blue range (from about 440 nm to about 480 nm) combined with a yellow light-emitting phosphor, such as cerium(III) doped yttrium aluminum garnet (“YAG:Ce”), a cerium(III) doped terbium aluminum garnet (“TAG:Ce”), or a europium(II) doped barium orthosilicate (“BOS”). The phosphor absorbs a portion of the radiation emitted from the LED and converts the absorbed radiation to a yellow light. The remainder of the blue light emitted by the LED is transmitted through the phosphor and is mixed with the yellow light emitted by the phosphor. A viewer perceives the mixture of blue and yellow light as a white light. The total of the light from the phosphor material and the LED chip provides a color point with corresponding color coordinates (x and y) and correlated color temperature (CCT), and its spectral distribution provides a color rendering capability, measured by the color rendering index (CRI).
Such systems can be used to make white light sources having CCTs of >4500 K and CRIs ranging from about 70-82, with luminous efficacy of radiation (“LER”, also referred to as luminosity) of about 330 Im/Wopt. While this range is suitable for many applications, general illumination sources usually require lower CCTs and higher CRIs, preferably with similar or better LER.
Other white light LED lighting systems use a UV or visible light LED chip along with a blend of red, green, and/or blue phosphors that can be efficiently excited by near-UV radiation to make white light.
The CRI is commonly defined as a mean value for 8 standard color samples (R1-8), usually referred to as the General Color Rendering Index and abbreviated as Ra, although 14 standard color samples are specified internationally and one can calculate a broader CRI (R1-14) as their mean value. In particular, the R9 value, measuring the color rendering for the strong red, is very important for a range of applications, especially of medical nature.
Recently there has been a great deal of interest in “warm white” (CCT<4500) LED lights to replace incandescent lights. Among the possible solutions, those using phosphors have proven the simplest and easiest to implement. Due to the inherently high CRI of incandescent lights (100 by definition), a fairly high CRI (e.g. 80 or greater, more preferably 90 or greater) is also expected from warm white LEDs for general illumination. However, certain applications do not require such a high CRI and may be designed to lower CRI value in exchange for higher LER, as explained further below.
Phosphor blends for warm white LEDs based on blue to UV chips are known in the art. However, there is a considerable drop in LED efficiency as the CCT is lowered towards incandescent values, leading to a performance gap between “cool” and “warm” white LEDs at any given CRI. There is also a general trade-off relationship between CRI and LER, of approximately 1% LER lost per 1 CRI point gained. Then the efficacy (i.e. the luminous flux output per electrical watt input, as commonly reported in the art) is proportional to the LER value. Current state of the art commercial power warm white LEDs have efficacies around 35 Im/W at low CRI (e.g. 70), and around 28 Im/W or less at high CRI (e.g. 90), in line with the trade-off relationship mentioned above.
Thus, a continuing need exists for warm white lamps (preferably LED lamps) with improved efficiency and having the ability to customize CRI vs. LER at low CCT values.